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Silicon Valley- Having dominated the PC space, Intel Corp. is now looking to conquer another huge market: communications ICs.
In just the past three months, Intel has transformed itself from a niche supplier of LAN-card semiconductors to a communications-IC powerhouse selling products that extend from the LAN to the WAN.
And at this week's Networld+Interop trade show in Las Vegas, Intel and its latest acquisition, Level One Communications Inc., will give OEMs a sneak preview of a new high-end LAN-switch chip for Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet networks, sources said.
Developed by Level One, the 24-port device is targeted at the hottest marketin switching-Layer 3, which enables packet data to be directly routed from one specific IP (Internet Protocol) address to another over a network.
Layer 2 switches, which simply send packets of data over a network, are the most common products on the market today, but these systems are under extreme price pressure, analysts said.
Officials from Level One declined to comment on...